This Day in History October 31, 1892

I was absolutely amazed how many things in history happened on October 31.  I certainly had my pick, but I decided to pick something a little bit different.

It just so happens that it was on this day in 1892 that the very first short story collection of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published.  Yes, Sherlock Holmes had appeared in magazines previously, but this was the first book collection of short stories.

Doyle was born in Scotland om 1859, and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh That was where he met Dr. Bell who became his inspiration for the character Sherlock Holmes.  Once his stories began to sell well in magazines in 1891, he was able to give up his medical practice and concentrate on his writing.

I would love to elaborate on his biography, but if you are interested, you can check out these sites for an incredible amount of information:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes-published
http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org

I don't know about you, but I enjoy Sherlock Holmes.  I enjoy reading the books and watching the movies.  I think his mysteries were some of the finest and best-written.  I honestly never found them boring.

Back to the Books Giveaway Hop--2 Winners! (Ends 9/7) International (CLOSED)

Yes, it is that time again!  Most of the country is probably back to school, but there are a few stragglers (like Yelm, Washington and others) who have yet to start school.  I am so happy to be participating in this giveaway hop hosted I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Buried in Books.

Because this system was so successful last time, I am going to follow the same pattern I did during the last book giveaway hop. This is an international giveaway which should make so many of my international  followers happy!

For the mandatory entry, you will need to list 3-10 books that you would like to have.  I will need you to list the title and author, or if you would like, please leave a link to that book.  Ranking them in order is fine, but that may or may not help your results.  After you create this comment, make  sure you fill out the rest of the rafflecopter form.

When the giveaway is done and the two winners are picked, I will be contacting each person to get their mailing information.  I will also take that opportunity to clarify the book lists if needed and to make sure that the winners have not procured a copy of any of the books on their lists.  I will then choose one book for each winner that will be sent to them.  The winners will not know which book they are receiving.  Understand that I have the right to get a used copy of the book or a new copy.  It is my decision.  But don't worry.  Unless it is some out-of-print book or a very old book that I get, it will be in good condition.

Once the winners receive their books, if either one of them contact me and thank me for the book, that person will be able to receive the following:
1.  10 extra entries into any of my current giveaways (the person may spread these out any way they like)
 2.  One month of featured advertising on my blog for free.  This will consist of a weekly feature on my blog and featured entries in my giveaways.   (Note:  If the winner(s) don't have a blog or business to advertise, we will work out a substitution.)

To sweeten the deal just a little bit, I will add a winner to the giveaway for each of these goals that are accomplished.

• 1000 google friend connect followers
• 500 facebook fans
• 1500 twitter followers

I know these seem like very lofty goals, but I know they can be accomplished.  If all goals are accomplished by the end of the giveaway, I will add one more winner.  That means that there could be 6 winners!  I don't know about you, but this would sure get me excited.  I will be watching very carefully to see what happens as I am sure you will.

So then , what are you waiting for?  This giveaway will end at 9 P.M. September 7 Pacific Time.  Be sure to place all entries in the rafflecopter form.  Only make a comment on the blog post if the form says to or if you have some kind of problem with the giveaway (form not working, computer issues, etc.).  Best of wishes to all of you!  And don't forget to enter all the other giveaways listed below the form!  I can assure you I will be hopping along, too!

Solution Sunday--An Full Update On All the Challenges I Am Still Doing!

Okay, I have been totally remiss.  I was really good for a few months on updating my challenges, but since then, I have not been doing it.  So I am going to get back on track and get it all updated tonight.  Or at least get half of my challenges updated.  Let's see how it goes.

Here is a link to all the books I have read so far on this challenge.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Scandal Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee

Tess of the D'ubervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Daughter's Walk by Jane Kirkpatrick

Adam Bede by George Eliot

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Mistletoe Magic by Sophia James

Here are the books I have read for this challenge to date:

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy

Love At Last Sight by Kerry and Chris Shook

Defiant Joy by Kevin Belmonte

Johann Sebastian Bach by Rick Marschall

A Maze of Grace by Trish Ryan

The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner

Freedom's Stand by Jeanette Windle

How To Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks ...by Leil Lowndes

Slow:  Life in a Tuscan Town by Douglas Gayeton

How Wheels and High Heels by Jane Graves

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Scandal Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee
The Twinning Murder by Shelly Frome
The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lilian Jackson
The Fairy-Tale Detectives
And my last challenge to update for tonight--I will do my final one later.
 
A Darcy Christmas
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Midsummer Eve Hop (ends 6/24) (closed)

I am participating in another wonderful book giveaway hop hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer. My giveaway is pretty simple.  I will be giving away 2 prizes that are open internationally (for the most part!).  Please read on.

The first giveaway is open internationally with one exception.  The winner will be able to choose one book from the book depository up to $15 (as long as they ship to your country).  

The second giveaway is a little different.  I sell books on amazon and half.com.  I have a bunch of stuff on both sites, and what I am willing to offer is $5 worth of merchandise from any of my inventory.  I am willing to ship this worldwide as long as the books are not too heavy or too big.  Here are the links to my "shops."  

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=A26QXBJTPFYZOZ

Half.com:  http://shops.half.ebay.com/ruthaw-1974_W0QQsellerZruthawQ5f1974

Don't forget to hop along and enter the other wonderful giveaways!

Jadey! is my second winner.

Solution Sunday--I Have Been Busy

This has been a very successful weekend for me.  I can see the floor of my bedroom for the first time in weeks!  At this point, I do not plan on rejoining the 52-week organizing challenge, but I do plan to set some goals for myself as the summer comes.

This site is back in my life again.  I examined all my options, and this is the website that I keep going back to.  They have the easiest online food diary, and they even have a mobile web app for smart phones.  I need to update my sparkpage, but here is the link for now.  You can see where I came from!  I did lost about one to one and a half pounds this past week, and hopefully I will be just as successful this week.

Now to my other challenges.  When did I last update you?  I do not remember!  I am behind on updating.

I believe I can link up the following reviews in addition to reading Revelation and reading Crosswalk devotionals.

Johnann Sebastian Bach

The Daughter's Walk

I cannot link up there yet, but this book counts for this challenge too:

The Daughter's Walk

I can finally get around to linking this review up for this challenge:

The Fairy Tale Detectives

I will be updating my map for this challenge right after this post is published, so check it out.

I guess I wasn't as far behind as I thought.  So another week is before me.  Very early risings all week, but I have a week long job, so I can't really complain.

Well-Spoken Wednesday--The Case for Fairy Tales

Well, I happened to look at a link on twitter that was absolutely perfect for today's theme, and it sparked a lot of conversation in the car tonight.  I have always loved fairy tales, and amazingly, this post from 2009 says exactly what I think should be said on the topic.

The author of this post makes a great case for not getting rid of fairy tales.  I would never have thought about fairy tales being stereotypical or not politically correct.  After all, who doesn't love to read about princes and princesses and lose themselves in a world of wizardry, magic, and  sometimes dreams come true.

Let's see.  Some people say that this story of Cinderella would teach my little girl that domestic servitude is what women do, and it is only a man like a prince who can rescue you from that life.

And of course, if I read this story to my daughter, she is going to go out and kiss a grizzly bear or a lion.  Or maybe she will have terrible nightmares.  

I have to say that I disagree.  My daughter gets nightmares from stories that are not fairy tales.  We were robbed last night--thankfully it was only a few electronics stolen from a car--and that caused her to go into hysterics.  She went to see Soul Surfer and threw up because it brought back the terrors of my horrific dog bite.  She sees the trailer for a horrifying film, and she wakes up with a horrible nightmare.  And if Cinderella is supposed to teach her to pick up her room or Red Riding Hood is supposed to tell her that she should go wander in the woods, I think the stories have failed.

So, that is my take on that.  By the way, all pictures appear on this post courtesy of  the Graphics Fairy.

Twilight Tuesday--I Stopped Reading My Second Book...

I don't know about you, but I sometimes really get excited about a book, I wait to read it, and then, sometimes it is a great disappointment.

I remember reading this book.  It was a hard read, and I would not have persevered had it not been for the fact that I felt I needed to read it to understand my students. I once taught a student whose father killed his mother.  He was in foster care, and he had all sorts of trouble.  Unfortunately, this has become something that too many kids face in today's society.  I will never regret that I read this book.  It was one of my first reviews on this blog.







The other books I did not finish.  This was the first of those.  I was on a very long waiting list to read this, and when it arrived, I was ready to stop all my other reading and just devour this book.  Imagine my surprise when I was on page 70 and I couldn't get into it.  I was so disappointed, and I decided that I would not read it.  After all, with a classic book, I say it usually takes about 50 pages to get into it.  I gave this book till page 70, and I have enough interesting books to read that I didn't have time to invest in a book that I didn't enjoy.






Today I met the second book in recent times that I just couldn't get into.  I had started this book last week, and the premise was intriguing.  And it fit in with one of my challenges.  I will say that I enjoyed the two main characters, but I got tired of the senseless profanity and the other characters in the book.  I was around page 80, and I decided to set it aside.








Now, if I was reading these books for a publisher review or something like that, I would have persevered.  But what is the point of reading a book you don't like just to be reading it?  There are enough books in this world to read that I think setting a few aside that I don't like is not shameless.

I begin this book tonight.  Here's hoping it will be better!

Solution Sunday--Update on My Challenges

Here it is! The big post that will cover all of my challenges.  I think I have a lot to report today!

This is the last week I will be posting on this.  I only have one thing to show here.  While I plan to keep this mindset going and I will post updates to a degree, this is the last official week!  This vest was one I just never wore.  I wore it this week and love it!  I am keeping it.

While I only have gotten rid of one thing this month, I have been able to wear some items I have not really worn and thought I didn't like.  And I think I have finally understood my style--sweaters with sleeveless tops and slacks.  I have loads of clothes to wear, and I plan to keep on going!  I plan to tackle my accessories eventually as well.

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Week #4--I got my bookshelf organized!

I am still a week behind with this, but I got this done.  Remember this for last week?

 Look at it this week!!

Okay, it's not perfect, but I can find my books!  I didn't realize I had so many wonderful books that I have won and bought.  I have a lot of reading to do.  I also listed a lot of books to sell.

This week, I am supposed to be working on the DVD's/VHS cases.  I feel pretty good about the prospects of this one.  I plan to purge and straighten.  I love this challenge!

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Still working on The Book Thief.  I may have it done by next week.

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I am still reading through the Bible in a year.  I will start Proverbs when this is done.  But I did finish Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy.  That makes 2 books in this challenge.  I have enjoyed these!

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Nothing new to report here.  I will be reading my first book for this challenge pretty soon!

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The cool thing is that the "romance" I am currently reading has turned into a mystery!  I get to list it for this challenge when I'm done.  I never dreamed it would be.  I am reading Scandal Becomes Her because a friend sent it to me.  I didn't know what I would think of it, but I am more  than half through it and looking forward to discovering the secret to the mystery.
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Nothing to report here.  Sorry.

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Okay, I have this one going.  You will notice at the bottom of my blog posts that there is a map.  Sorry you have to zoom out to see the map, but for some reason, that is the default setting.  I have visited England, Indiania, and Texas.  You can see them on the map.  The hardest thing for me is to figure out where non-fiction books take place.  If I am not sure,  I go with where the author lives.  Or where the book takes place mostly.  

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Okay, that should do it for this week.  Man, I am a busy lady!!

Kid's Animal Books Giveaway (ends 2/20)

I happen to belong to the children's book of the month club.  They are a wonderful company, and I love the fact that once you meet the requirements of your membership, you never have to order again!  The only problem is that their books have gotten better!!  So I often can't turn them down.

In November, I got a call from them, and I accidentally ordered a book we already had.  I know I could have sent it back, but I was also given a free book as a result, so I figured I would keep it and offer it to my readers.  Which I am now doing.

These are the two books, and here is the link on the children's book of the month club site.  These books have lots of pictures and stickers.  My daughter was so excited to get these books on Christmas.  They are quite interactive and entertaining.  If your child(ren) enjoy animals, these are the books for them!







Ready to win?  This giveaway will end February 20 at 9 P.M. Pacific Time.  Please make sure your e-mail is in your comment or visible in your profile. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

1.  Become or state that your a follower of this blog via google friend connect.
2.  Become my facebook friend.  Be sure to leave your user name.
3.  Like my new facebook page.  Leave your user name.  (2 entries)
4.  Post my button on your blog.  Please leave  the url so I can check it out.  (5 entries)
5.  Subscribe via e-mail and/or RSS.  (1 entry for each)
6.  Share this giveaway any way you like.  Please leave any applicable links.  You may do this once a day per method.
7.  Enter my Mary Kay giveaway that ends 2/2.  (5 entries)

And the unlimited entry!


What is a favorite book from childhood or one of your child's current favorites?  Please state the name of the book and the author.  I am always looking for good reads for my daughter!

Well-Spoken Wednesday--Quiet Strength Book Review

Summary from Goodreads:

He led his team to #1 in the world and showed the world a better way to live, lead, and succeed.

When Tony Dungy led the Indianapolis Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLIand made history as the first African American coach to win the big gamemillions of people, amazed by the success of his quiet, authoritative leadership style, wondered: how does he get it done?

In the pages of this fascinating memoir, Tony Dungy reveals the secrets to his successprinciples, practices, and priorities that have kept him on track despite overwhelming personal and professional obstacles, including firings, stereotypes, and the tragic loss of a child.

In the face of so much adversity, Tony has not only survived but risen to the very top of his profession in a way thats won the respect of fans, players, and even his competitors. His thoughts on leading, succeeding, and attaining true significance will inspire you to take a long, hard look at the things that really matter in your own life.

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First off, I am not a football fan.  I watch it only because I have two people in my life who do love football.  The only time I even showed any interest in football was when I lived in the Tampa Bay area.  I remember when Tony Dungy took over as their head coach, and I remember how impressed I was and how the team changed.  I was horrified when he was fired, and then we he became the Colts coach, I was somewhat interested.  I remember how my heart broke when I heard of his son's suicide.  The constant for me with Tony Dungy was that he is a Christian, and he never yelled at the officials and the players like the other coaches did.

I was not looking forward to reading this book because I figured it would be filled with football stuff.  I was pleasantly surprised as I read the story of Dungy's life, and on almost every page, his faith showed forth in a very simple manner.  I was so inspired, and more than once he almost had me in tears.  To have the faith that he demonstrated throughout the book!  Goodness, he puts me to shame!  He gave all glory to God for everything, and he learned to trust Him in all things.

Indeed, this is the best Christian book I have read in ages.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to deepen their walk with the Lord.  It is autobiographical, but it is first and foremost a book of faith in God.


View all my reviews

Well-Spoken Wednesday--2 Books I Love But Have NOT Finished Yet!

I had to give my very exciting copy of The Woman in White back to library yesterday.  Our library only has one copy, and at one point, there were four holds.  I really worked hard to read it and only got about half of it done. I know that some have reviewed it as boring, but I have absolutely loved it!  I did not want to send it back!

I first became interested in The Woman in White when Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical came out starring Michael Crawford!  I listened to the album and enjoyed it.  But I did not really understand the story line.  I just remembered that Michael Crawford played Count Fosco!  I so enjoy reading about that character and wish I could have seen Michael Crawford in it!  I know it got somewhat of a bad rap, but I think the musical was not marketed well.  I guess I don't find the story slow--it is just like many classics.  It has lots of detail, and I cannot say I know how the story will end.  I almost remember how the musical ended, but I never saw it--I only listened to it.  I definitely look forward to finishing this book.  Hopefully by January, it will be back in my hands.  I thought about looking up a free version online, but I decided to wait.

I am now reading a book that I knew very little about, and I honestly figured I wouldn't finish reading it.  It is called The Mailbox.  I had no idea it was a Christian book until I was reading the acknowledgements.  It is nice light reading, and I look forward to writing a review on here.  I should finish just in time for me to read The Help.  It is finally on its way to me after being in number 291 on the waiting list.  The library was at least smarter since they have about 10 copies of it.  I hope it lives up to it hype!